Frame of Mind
- Commander Riker is in the midst of preparing for the performance of a play; in the play Riker is playing a patient in mental institution who murdered someone and Data plays the doctor who is treating him; Dr. Crusher is directing the play; whie taking a break from rehearsing Riker is informed that he is needed for a search and rescue mission
- before taking off on the mission Riker and Data perform the play for a small audience; Riker begins to have hallucinations of a crew member that isn't on the Enterprise; then he is in a mental institution and can't remember his name, then he back on the Enterprise; the story whips back and forth between the two locations making it very difficult to determine what is real and what is not
- this is a done-in-one, there is a resolution which resolves the question of what actually happened
- this episode really messed with my head; it was a wild ride; it kept me guessing right up until the reveal at the end
- Susanna Thompson didn't have a very big role in this story and looks nothing like she does on Arrow; she plays an alien and is wearing a fair amount of prosthetic makeup
- Jonathan Frakes was great in this episode, very convincing even when he was rehearsing for the play at the beginning of the episode
- this episode made me think of Existenz, a virtual reality film written and directed by David Cronenberg in which similarly it became increasingly difficult to tell if the main characters were still in the VR environment or not
- a little background on what brought me to watch this episode; I listened to a recent episode of the Daily Rios yesterday in which Peter was talking about the back half of Season 1 of Arrow; one of the subjects that came up was some of Susanna Thompson's (Moira Queen) previous roles; he mentioned an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space 9; I decided to look her up on imdb and found that she had also appeared on The Next Generation and Voyager, playing different roles on each show
- she appeared on two episodes of TNG but this is the one that I chose to watch, in part because it reminded me of a story I heard about on a recent episode of Word Balloon from an original series novel or fan film which sounded a bit like the one sentence description of this episode that I found on Netflix: Riker begins to question reality when he finds himself in an insane asylum and faces the prospect that his life on the Enterprise is a delusion
- I started watching the episode thinking I would just dip my toe in the water and finish watching it later; I quickly got sucked in and felt compelled to stick with it
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Friday, August 5, 2016
Battlestar Galactica (1978) 1.02
Saga of a Star World - Part 2
- Apollo and Boomer solve part of the hunger crisis when they discover one ship that is hoarding food; the ship is controlled by Sire Uri, a member of the council of twelve who isn't very understanding when Apollo insists that he share his food with the starving people on other ships
- After some debate and some more unsolicited input from Apollo, the Council of Twelve decide the fleet should head for Carillon in the hopes that they will be able to refuel and resupply there
- the fleet arrives on Carillon and sends down two teams to scout the planet; the first team (Starbuck, Boomer) discovers a casino resort where no one seems to know about what happened to Caprica and the rest of the 12 colonies; Starbuck smells an opportunity to make some money and acts on it despite Boomer's warning that things seem a little strange at the casino resort
- the second team (Apollo, Jolly, Serina, Boxey) head in a different direction and encounter some alien life forms who look vaguely insectoid
- some thing goes horribly wrong at the casino resort at the very end of the episode but what it is exactly isn't revealed in this episode
- there's also a couple other subplots; one involves Starbuck and Cassiopeia; another is about snapping Boxey out of his funk over losing his pet
- still not great
- I know Starbuck is supposed to be the lovable rogue but I find him to be more icky than lovable
- the Council of Twelve looked considerably more diverse in the previous episode; in this episode it seems to consist of only white folks, more specifically white men; I'm pretty sure it was all male in the previous episode
- the Cylons do appear but only briefly and there are no fights between the Cylons and Humanity
- Apollo and Boomer solve part of the hunger crisis when they discover one ship that is hoarding food; the ship is controlled by Sire Uri, a member of the council of twelve who isn't very understanding when Apollo insists that he share his food with the starving people on other ships
- After some debate and some more unsolicited input from Apollo, the Council of Twelve decide the fleet should head for Carillon in the hopes that they will be able to refuel and resupply there
- the fleet arrives on Carillon and sends down two teams to scout the planet; the first team (Starbuck, Boomer) discovers a casino resort where no one seems to know about what happened to Caprica and the rest of the 12 colonies; Starbuck smells an opportunity to make some money and acts on it despite Boomer's warning that things seem a little strange at the casino resort
- the second team (Apollo, Jolly, Serina, Boxey) head in a different direction and encounter some alien life forms who look vaguely insectoid
- some thing goes horribly wrong at the casino resort at the very end of the episode but what it is exactly isn't revealed in this episode
- there's also a couple other subplots; one involves Starbuck and Cassiopeia; another is about snapping Boxey out of his funk over losing his pet
- still not great
- I know Starbuck is supposed to be the lovable rogue but I find him to be more icky than lovable
- the Council of Twelve looked considerably more diverse in the previous episode; in this episode it seems to consist of only white folks, more specifically white men; I'm pretty sure it was all male in the previous episode
- the Cylons do appear but only briefly and there are no fights between the Cylons and Humanity
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Community 1.20
The Science of Illusion
- a bit of an oddball title since the focus of this episode is April Fool's Day
- the group fools Pierce into thinking he is a wizard, or do they?
- Britta decides to play a prank on Senor Chang but instead ends up killing a frog and pushing a dead body out of a window and into the quad; Jeff gets accused of breaking into the lab and pushing the body out the window after Britta frames him for the crime
- Annie and Shirley sign up to be temporary campus security and end up getting into a fight over who is the bigger bad ass; Abed follows them around narrating, directing, and sometimes inserting himeslf into their adventures as campus police
- overall a pretty good episode
- a bit of an oddball title since the focus of this episode is April Fool's Day
- the group fools Pierce into thinking he is a wizard, or do they?
- Britta decides to play a prank on Senor Chang but instead ends up killing a frog and pushing a dead body out of a window and into the quad; Jeff gets accused of breaking into the lab and pushing the body out the window after Britta frames him for the crime
- Annie and Shirley sign up to be temporary campus security and end up getting into a fight over who is the bigger bad ass; Abed follows them around narrating, directing, and sometimes inserting himeslf into their adventures as campus police
- overall a pretty good episode
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Casual 2.07
Threesomes
- Laura talks Aubrey into having a threesome with her and Spencer; Laura wants to do it because Spencer has cancer and only has 6 months to live; in the previous episode Laura and Aubrey took some pictures of themselves in their underwear for him, but that didn't seem to do it for him; Aubrey doesn't seem to enthused about the idea of a threesome but goes along with it; the final scene with all three of them which looks like it is post-threesome seems awkward
- Alex continues to date Fallon and flaunt the relationship in front of Jordan and Sarah; he learns that Fallon is with him for essentially the same reason he is with her; she is trying to get at Jordan whom she says she is emotionally involved with; after Jordan and Fallon get into an argument at Jordan and Sarah's engagement party, Sarah shows up at Alex's house in tears, and they start kissing
- Val starts ignoring Harry and sleeping with Jack; Harry represents security, Jack is excitement
- I'm interested to see the damage that the threesome has done to Laura's relationship with Aubrey; everything does not seem good at the end of the episode; it also isn't clear exactly what happened, who did what to whom; and so on and so forth
- Does Alex really want Sarah back? I'm really not sure; I wonder if Alex knows what he really wants; I don't think he thinks that far ahead
- Val seems to be trying to live a lot more recklessly than she has in the past; she seems to be trying to follow Jennifer's advice from a couple episodes ago and live for the moment; ultimately I doubt that it is going to get her what she wants, which isn't to say that Harry is the right guy for her but that she is experimenting and at the moment doesn't seem to be in control of her own life; she seems to be acting in a reactive manner rather than a proactive one; what happens when Jack is no longer exciting?
- Laura talks Aubrey into having a threesome with her and Spencer; Laura wants to do it because Spencer has cancer and only has 6 months to live; in the previous episode Laura and Aubrey took some pictures of themselves in their underwear for him, but that didn't seem to do it for him; Aubrey doesn't seem to enthused about the idea of a threesome but goes along with it; the final scene with all three of them which looks like it is post-threesome seems awkward
- Alex continues to date Fallon and flaunt the relationship in front of Jordan and Sarah; he learns that Fallon is with him for essentially the same reason he is with her; she is trying to get at Jordan whom she says she is emotionally involved with; after Jordan and Fallon get into an argument at Jordan and Sarah's engagement party, Sarah shows up at Alex's house in tears, and they start kissing
- Val starts ignoring Harry and sleeping with Jack; Harry represents security, Jack is excitement
- I'm interested to see the damage that the threesome has done to Laura's relationship with Aubrey; everything does not seem good at the end of the episode; it also isn't clear exactly what happened, who did what to whom; and so on and so forth
- Does Alex really want Sarah back? I'm really not sure; I wonder if Alex knows what he really wants; I don't think he thinks that far ahead
- Val seems to be trying to live a lot more recklessly than she has in the past; she seems to be trying to follow Jennifer's advice from a couple episodes ago and live for the moment; ultimately I doubt that it is going to get her what she wants, which isn't to say that Harry is the right guy for her but that she is experimenting and at the moment doesn't seem to be in control of her own life; she seems to be acting in a reactive manner rather than a proactive one; what happens when Jack is no longer exciting?
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
Mad Men 7.10
The Forecast
- The year is 1970
- Don is trying to sell his unfurnished apartment; his real estate agent isn't hopeful about the prospect of selling it as is; the episode ends with Don coming home only to find that she has sold it to a couple
- Joan starts a relationship with an older retired gentleman; she meets him when she is in the Los Angeles office; he follows her back to New York; the ride is a little bumpy but by the end of the episode things are looking good
- Sally has to deal with her childhood friend (Glen) joining the army; he looks much thinner than he did the last time I recall seeing him but I recognized him right away; he tries hitting on Betty when Sally is away but Betty; later in the episode Sally snaps at Don for turning on the charm when one of her friends flirts with him
- Peggy tries to get Don to do her performance evaluation but winds up storming out of his office in frustration when he wanders off topic and gets philosophical on her
- John, one of the younger ad men, botches a sales pitch with a client and turns to Don for advice; Don counsels him on how to handle the situation; instead of following Don't advice John tries using a line from a story that Don told him and it blows up in his face
- excellent episode
- broke my heart to see the confrontation between Don and Sally at the bus terminal; the tragic part of that scene and the preceding one in the restaurant was seeing how quickly the old wound was reopened; the look on Sally's face as Don started to ooze charm said it all
- I was very happy that Betty didn't respond receptively to Glen's advances; for a moment there it seemed like what she wanted; in hindsight I think she wanted Glen's attention much more than she did a roll in the hay with him
- I completely lost track of time while watching this one, a sure sign that I was digging it
- The year is 1970
- Don is trying to sell his unfurnished apartment; his real estate agent isn't hopeful about the prospect of selling it as is; the episode ends with Don coming home only to find that she has sold it to a couple
- Joan starts a relationship with an older retired gentleman; she meets him when she is in the Los Angeles office; he follows her back to New York; the ride is a little bumpy but by the end of the episode things are looking good
- Sally has to deal with her childhood friend (Glen) joining the army; he looks much thinner than he did the last time I recall seeing him but I recognized him right away; he tries hitting on Betty when Sally is away but Betty; later in the episode Sally snaps at Don for turning on the charm when one of her friends flirts with him
- Peggy tries to get Don to do her performance evaluation but winds up storming out of his office in frustration when he wanders off topic and gets philosophical on her
- John, one of the younger ad men, botches a sales pitch with a client and turns to Don for advice; Don counsels him on how to handle the situation; instead of following Don't advice John tries using a line from a story that Don told him and it blows up in his face
- excellent episode
- broke my heart to see the confrontation between Don and Sally at the bus terminal; the tragic part of that scene and the preceding one in the restaurant was seeing how quickly the old wound was reopened; the look on Sally's face as Don started to ooze charm said it all
- I was very happy that Betty didn't respond receptively to Glen's advances; for a moment there it seemed like what she wanted; in hindsight I think she wanted Glen's attention much more than she did a roll in the hay with him
- I completely lost track of time while watching this one, a sure sign that I was digging it
Sunday, July 31, 2016
UnREAL 1.04
Wife
- Adam cons his way into getting Everlasting to pretty up an old rundown villa in the hills of Napa; they are supposed to be shooting a date there with 5 of the remaining 10 women; turns out what he is hoping is to attract investors in the villa; a couple of investors show up on the set but their interest fades when they learn that Adam's father's company won't be involved in running the property
- Adam gets into hot water with the 10 remaing contestants when they find out about a tabloid article that reveals that he has been texting his ex; he manages to get out of the hot water but then turns up the heat himself by passionately kissing Mary within sight of some of the other contestants, at Rachel's request
- Rachel is falling for Adam; at first I didn't think it could be, even after he kissed her on the cheek, but considering how they ended the episode, with her watching and then deleting the tape of the two of them sharing that intimate moment, it is the only logical conclusion
- Quinn has the most interesting arc in this episode; she is still mad at Chet and goes to see Bill; he and Quinn were an item before Everlasting, which wasn't just Chet's idea, but he managed to claim all the credit; in this episode she is using Bill to get at Chet; she's sick of playing second fiddle, being the side wife; she wants more; she tells Bill, early in the episode, that a law suit is a non-starter but towards the end of the episode she suggests to Chet that she is thinking about it or about going public with her original copy of the proposal for the show which has her name on it as co-creator
- there's more, like Jay's attempt to get in Chet's good graces which blows up in his face and Athena's attempt to get on Adam's good side which similarly goes nowhere
- great episode; love the introduction of more back story; love seeing the various layers of the onion slowly get un peeled
- it was interesting to see Adam play a bigger role in this one
- even though Rachel was ever present her personality seemed somewhat subdued; maybe because she is pining for Adam
- Adam cons his way into getting Everlasting to pretty up an old rundown villa in the hills of Napa; they are supposed to be shooting a date there with 5 of the remaining 10 women; turns out what he is hoping is to attract investors in the villa; a couple of investors show up on the set but their interest fades when they learn that Adam's father's company won't be involved in running the property
- Adam gets into hot water with the 10 remaing contestants when they find out about a tabloid article that reveals that he has been texting his ex; he manages to get out of the hot water but then turns up the heat himself by passionately kissing Mary within sight of some of the other contestants, at Rachel's request
- Rachel is falling for Adam; at first I didn't think it could be, even after he kissed her on the cheek, but considering how they ended the episode, with her watching and then deleting the tape of the two of them sharing that intimate moment, it is the only logical conclusion
- Quinn has the most interesting arc in this episode; she is still mad at Chet and goes to see Bill; he and Quinn were an item before Everlasting, which wasn't just Chet's idea, but he managed to claim all the credit; in this episode she is using Bill to get at Chet; she's sick of playing second fiddle, being the side wife; she wants more; she tells Bill, early in the episode, that a law suit is a non-starter but towards the end of the episode she suggests to Chet that she is thinking about it or about going public with her original copy of the proposal for the show which has her name on it as co-creator
- there's more, like Jay's attempt to get in Chet's good graces which blows up in his face and Athena's attempt to get on Adam's good side which similarly goes nowhere
- great episode; love the introduction of more back story; love seeing the various layers of the onion slowly get un peeled
- it was interesting to see Adam play a bigger role in this one
- even though Rachel was ever present her personality seemed somewhat subdued; maybe because she is pining for Adam
Friday, July 29, 2016
Battlestar Galactica (1978) 1.01
Saga of a Star World - Part 1
- Part 1 of a three part story that introduces the series; it aired as a movie in some theaters, as well as on TV
- Everything seems to be going fine, humanity is about to finalize a peace treaty with the Cylons after decades of war when out of nowhere the Cylons attack
- Commander Adama is the only leader prepared for the sudden attack, during which he loses one of his sons, Zack (Rick Springfield)
- The rest of the fleet and most of the planets inhabited by humanity are destroyed, only the Galactica and a rag-tag fleet of 200+ ships survive; things don't look good, food and fuel supplies are low; people are starving
- Commander Adama declares that while the 12 colonies have been destroyed, each of which seems to be named for a sign of the zodiac, there is a 13th colony and that they must seek it out; although he doesn't seem to know exactly where it is, other than it is far, far away and is called Earth
- Overall this episode was ok, not great; I'm not crazy about most of the acting
- Starbuck hitting on Athena, Zack's sister, right after Zack was killed, classy; or maybe I'm just misreading what he was up to
- I am watching this in large part because Mike and Chris of the Geek Brunch Retro Cast have started watching it and talked about the first three episodes on the latest episode
- I have no recollection of seeing this episode before but I did watch reruns of Battlestar Galactica back in the early 80s; I have no idea how many episodes of the original series 24 episodes I watched back then but this is probably the first time I have tried watching the show in over 30 years
- I recall watching a few episodes of the next series Galactica 1980; that series takes place in the present after the Galactica has found Earth; according to IMDB Galactica 1980 ran for 10 episodes from January to May 1980; the only episode that I recall any details from is a Halloween-themed episode which included a guest appearance by DJ Wolfman Jack
- I have done a little bit of research into the Starlog Archive to see what coverage of the show there was when it first aired and here's what I have found so far:
- Issue 17: 2-page spread with publicity shots from the show and a bit of text describing the show
- Issue 18: separate interviews with Richard Hatch (Apollo) and Dirk Benedict (Starbuck) which together span 6 pages
- Issue 19: 4-page interview with Maren Jensen (Athena, Adama's daughter)
- Part 1 of a three part story that introduces the series; it aired as a movie in some theaters, as well as on TV
- Everything seems to be going fine, humanity is about to finalize a peace treaty with the Cylons after decades of war when out of nowhere the Cylons attack
- Commander Adama is the only leader prepared for the sudden attack, during which he loses one of his sons, Zack (Rick Springfield)
- The rest of the fleet and most of the planets inhabited by humanity are destroyed, only the Galactica and a rag-tag fleet of 200+ ships survive; things don't look good, food and fuel supplies are low; people are starving
- Commander Adama declares that while the 12 colonies have been destroyed, each of which seems to be named for a sign of the zodiac, there is a 13th colony and that they must seek it out; although he doesn't seem to know exactly where it is, other than it is far, far away and is called Earth
- Overall this episode was ok, not great; I'm not crazy about most of the acting
- Starbuck hitting on Athena, Zack's sister, right after Zack was killed, classy; or maybe I'm just misreading what he was up to
- I am watching this in large part because Mike and Chris of the Geek Brunch Retro Cast have started watching it and talked about the first three episodes on the latest episode
- I have no recollection of seeing this episode before but I did watch reruns of Battlestar Galactica back in the early 80s; I have no idea how many episodes of the original series 24 episodes I watched back then but this is probably the first time I have tried watching the show in over 30 years
- I recall watching a few episodes of the next series Galactica 1980; that series takes place in the present after the Galactica has found Earth; according to IMDB Galactica 1980 ran for 10 episodes from January to May 1980; the only episode that I recall any details from is a Halloween-themed episode which included a guest appearance by DJ Wolfman Jack
- I have done a little bit of research into the Starlog Archive to see what coverage of the show there was when it first aired and here's what I have found so far:
- Issue 17: 2-page spread with publicity shots from the show and a bit of text describing the show
- Issue 18: separate interviews with Richard Hatch (Apollo) and Dirk Benedict (Starbuck) which together span 6 pages
- Issue 19: 4-page interview with Maren Jensen (Athena, Adama's daughter)
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